Studies on performance of plagioclase based alkali activator in polymerisation of alumina refinery residue and slag from iron industry

• Published in: Materials today : proceedings Vol. 49; pp. 854 - 859
• Main Authors: Nagashree, B., Mourougane, R., Hari Krishna, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Alumina refinery residue (ARR); Geopolymer concrete (GPC); Ground granular blast furnace slag (GGBFS); Normal conventional concrete (NCC); Ordinary portland cement (OPC); Geopolymer concrete (GPC); Alumina refinery residue (ARR); Ground granular blast furnace slag (GGBFS); Normal conventional concrete (NCC); Ordinary portland cement (OPC)
• ISSN: 2214-7853; 2214-7853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2021.06.023

Keeping in view of the hazardous effects of production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) on the environment, it is necessary to minimize the usage of OPC and subsequently replace it by the alternative materials which possess the binding properties. One such attempt led to discovery of geopolymer concrete. In present study, Alumina Refinery Residue (ARR) and slag from iron industry (GGBFS) are the two binder materials used in the ratio of 25:75 (ARR: GGBFS) along with the combination of Sodium Hydroxide and plagioclase-based alkali activator for initiating polymerization reaction. Present study focuses on evaluation of performance of geopolymer concrete in terms of Compressive Strength and Acid Durability Factor. Test results revealed that 28 days compressive strength of geopolymer concrete was found to be 38.37 N/mm2 and that for NCC was 35.32 N/mm2. It is also observed that the percentage weight loss and strength loss after 120 days of immersion of the specimens in 10% HCl solution, was found to be 11.133% and 13.526% for GPC and that for NCC was found to be 13.504% and 21.347% respectively. Results of Acid Durability Factor proved that GPC specimens were found to perform 7.82 times better than NCC specimens. Further, Scanning Electron Microscope technique was used to analyze microstructure of both GPC and NCC specimens. Micro analysis results also showed that GPC specimens prove to be better than NCC specimens. The present study significantly determines the performance of GPC specimens produced by the combination of Sodium Hydroxide and Plagioclase based activator for initiating polymerization reaction. Generall, In this study, sodium/potassium based silicate compound in the alkali activator part is completely replaced by Plagioclase based activator (in the powder form) in order to have better mechanical, durable and microstructure properties, resulting to a economic mix for massive applications.